Objective:To investigate the correlation between the expressions of miR-524-5p and sex determining region Y box protein 9 (SOX9) in advanced gastric cancer and their influences on the efficacy and prognosis of chemotherapy.Methods:A total of 82 patients diagnosed as advanced gastric cancer who received DCF (docetaxel + cisplatin + fluorouracil) chemotherapy in 910th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese People′s Liberation Army from January 2015 to December 2017 were selected as the research objects. The expression levels of miR-524-5p and SOX9 in gastric cancer tissues were detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR. The correlation between the expressions of miR-524-5p and SOX9 was analyzed, the total effective rates of chemotherapy in patients with different miR-524-5p and SOX9 expression levels were compared, and the predictive value of miR-524-5p combined with SOX9 on the efficacy of chemotherapy was analyzed. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed.Results:The expressions of miR-524-5p and SOX9 were not related to gender or age of patients with advanced gastric cancer (all P>0.05), but were related to the degree of differentiation ( χ2=3.577, P=0.001; χ2=5.654, P<0.001) and distant metastasis ( χ2=2.466, P=0.016; χ2=5.218, P<0.001) of patients with advanced gastric cancer. There was a negative correlation between the expressions of miR-524-5p and SOX9 in advanced gastric cancer ( r=-0.348, P=0.001). According to the median expressions of miR-524-5p and SOX9 in gastric cancer tissues, patients were divided into high expression and low expression groups, miR-524-5p≥0.64 was high expression ( n=41), <0.64 was low expression ( n=41), SOX9≥1.84 was high expression ( n=41), and <1.84 was low expression ( n=41). The total effective rate of advanced gastric cancer patients with high expression of miR-524-5p was 58.54% (24/41), which was higher than that of patients with low expression of miR-524-5p (24.39%, 10/41), and there was a statistically significant difference ( χ2=9.484, P=0.002). The total effective rate of advanced gastric cancer patients with high expression of SOX9 was 21.95% (9/41), which was lower than 60.97% (25/41) of patients with low expression of SOX9, and there was a statistically significant difference ( χ2=12.863, P<0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the expressions of miR-524-5p and SOX9 had predictive value for the efficacy of chemotherapy, and the area under the curve was 0.753 (95% CI: 0.644-0.861, P<0.001) and 0.660 (95% CI: 0.540-0.780, P=0.014) respectively. The combination of miR-524-5p and SOX9 had predictive value for the efficacy of chemotherapy, and the area under the curve was 0.768 (95% CI: 0.667-0.868, P<0.001). The median PFS and OS of patients with high expression of miR-524-5p were 8 months and 14 months, which were longer than those of patients with low expression of miR-524-5p (6 months, 9 months), and there were statistically significant differences ( χ2=21.160, P<0.001; χ2=29.730, P<0.001). The median PFS and OS of patients with high expression of SOX9 were 7 months and 10 months, which were shorter than those of patients with low expression of SOX9 (8 months, 12 months), and there were statistically significant differences ( χ2=6.345, P=0.012; χ2=4.107, P=0.043). Conclusion:There is a negative correlation between the expressions of miR-524-5p and SOX9 in advanced gastric cancer tissues. The chemotherapy efficacy and prognosis of patients with high expression of miR-524-5p and low expression of SOX9 are better than those of patients with low expression of miR-524-5p and high expression of SOX9.

Objective To investigate the effects of Dingkoulizhong decoction on cellular immune factors and adverse reactions in patients with advanced gastric cancer treated with chemotherapy.Methods One hundred and thirty-eight patients with advanced gastric cancer were enrolled in our hospital from October 2014to December 2016,and were randomly divided into control group (n =69) and observation group (n =69) by using the random number table.The patients of the control group were treated with FOLFOX4 chemotherapy (oxaliplatin + calcium folinate + fluorouracil),while the patients of the observation group were given by the treatment of Dingkoulizhong decoction on the basis of the control group.The peripheral blood samples of the patients were collected before and after the treatment.The levels of cellular immune factors CD3 +,CD4 +,CD8 + and CD4 +/CD8 + were detected,and the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions of the patients of the two groups were observed.Results After the treatment,the number of complete remission (CR),partial remission (PR),stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD) in the observation group were 16,25,16 and 12 cases respectively,while the control group were 9,20,19 and 21 cases respectively,and there was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of clinical efficacy between the two groups (Z =4.381,P =0.036).Compared with the control group,the clinical benefit rate (CBR) of the observation group was significantly improved (59.42％ vs.42.03％),with a statistically significant difference (x2 =4.175,P =0.041).The cellular immune factors CD3 + [(52.67 ±6.21)％ vs.(53.45 ±6.54)％],CD4 + [(23.56 ±3.85)％ vs.(24.09±2.91)％],CD8 +[(28.16±3.49)％ vs.(27.87±3.26)％] and CD4 +/CD8+(1.13 ± 0.27 vs.1.19 ±± 0.31) of the patients of the observation group showed no statistically significant difference (t=0.718,P=0.474;t=0.912,P=0.363;t=0.504,P=0.615;t=1.212,P=0.227) beforeand after the treatment,but the cellular immune factor CD3 + [(50.36 ± 3.74)％ vs.(53.13 ± 6.12)％],CD4 +[(21.26±2.37)％ vs.(23.44 ±3.96)％] andCD4+/CD8*(0.96±0.26vs.1.15±0.25) of the patients of the control group after the treatment were significantly lower than those before the treatment,and CD8 +[(31.64 ± 4.05) ％ vs.(27.98 ± 3.52) ％] after the treatment was significantly higher than that before the treatment,all with statistically significant differences (t =3.208,P ＜ 0.001;t =3.924,P ＜ 0.001;t =4.289P ＜ 0.001,t =5.666,P ＜ 0.001).Compared with the control group,the level of CD3 + [(53.45 ± 6.54) ％ vs.(50.36±±3.74)％],CD4+[(24.09±±2.91)％ vs.(21.26±2.37)％] andCD4+/CD8+(1.19±0.31vs.0.96 ± 0.26) of the patients of the observation group after the treatment were significantly improved,and CD8 +[(27.87 ± 3.26) ％ vs.(31.64 ± 4.05) ％] was significantly decreased,all with statistically significant differences (t=3.407,P=0.001;t =6.264,P＜0.001;t =4.722,P＜0.001;t =6.023,P＜0.001).Compared with the control group,the total adverse reaction rate of the observation group was significantly decreased (36.23％ vs.55.07％),with a statistically significant difference (x2 =4.936,P =0.026).Conclusion Dingkoulizhong decoction can significantly improve the clinical efficacy in patients with advanced gastric cancer treated with chemotherapy,alleviate the immune function damage caused by chemotherapy,and it can reduce the occurrence of adverse reactions.

Objective To compare the outcomes of patients starting peritoneal dialysis (PD)within two weeks and more than two weeks after catheter implantation.Methods All the patients undergoing Tenckhoff catheter implantation and initiating PD in Renji Hospital from January 2001 to December 2010 were enrolled in the study.Patients started PD within 2 weeks after catheter insertion were defined as urgent group,and those started PD 2 weeks later were defined as planned group.Kaplan-Meier curves and Log-rank tests were used to compare outcomes between two groups.Results Among 657 patients in this study,median break-in period was 6 days of 469 (71.4％)patients in urgent group and 26 days of 188 (28.6％) patients in planned group.Compared to planned group,patients of urgent group were younger [(52.6± 17.3) vs (56.1± 15.3) year,P =0.017],had less eGFR [(5.36±2.03) vs (6.50±2.50) ml· min-1 · (1.73 m2)-1,P ＜ 0.01],lower serum albumin [(34.0±5.7) vs (36.2±5.9) g/L,P ＜ 0.01] and hemoglobin [(76.9± 18.8) vs (80.8 ± 17.9) g/L,P =0.018],and higher phosphate [(2.19±0.67) vs (1.98±0.52) mmol/L,P＜ 0.01].Urgent group presented more catheter dysfunctions needed to transfer to hemodialysis (2.1％ vs 0％,P =0.044).The 1-,2-,3-and 5-year technique survival rates of urgent and planned group were 94％ vs 98％,92％ vs 94％,90％ vs 92％and 86％ vs 85％ respectively.There was no significant difference in technique survival (Log-rank =1.536,P =0.22) and peritonitis-free survival (Log-rank =0.035,P =0.85) between two groups.The 1-,2-,3-and 5-year patient survival rates of urgent and planned group were 90％ vs 95％,81％ vs 90％,74％ vs 79％ and 67％ vs 74％ respectively,and no significant difference was found (Log-rank =2.364,P =0.12).Conclusions Although patients needing urgent initial PD have poorer residual renal function and nutritional condition compared to those of planned initial PD,their outcomes are similar.Peritoneal dialysis may be a feasible and safe dialysis modality for patients who need urgent start.

Objective To investigate the impact of calcium phosphate crystals induced by uremic serum on calcification of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs).Methods Uremic serum was incubated at 37℃ for 3 days.Calcium phosphate crystals and uremic supernatant were isolated from uremic serum by uhracentrifugation.Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were performed for analysis of morphological and chemical characteristics of the crystals.HASMCs were treated in vitro with control medium,uremic serummedium,calcium phosphate crystals-medium and uremic supernatant-medium.Calcification was visualizcd by Alizarin red staining.Calcium loads in cells were quantified by o-cresolphthalein complexone method.Gene expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2),osteopontin (OPN) and core-binding factor α1 (Cbfα1),alkaline phosphate (ALP) and matrix gamma carboxyglutamic acid protein (MGP) were quantified by real-time PCR.Cbfα1,OPN and BMP-2 protein levels were determined by Western blotting or ELISA.Results Calcium phosphate crystals which induced by uremic serum displayed laminated shapes containing crystallized needle-like projections and ranged from 30-500 nm,with Ca/P ratios of 1.41 ±0.05.Compared with the cells in control group,uremic serum induced HASMCs calcification,increased calcium loads (P ＜ 0.05),up-regulated BMP-2,OPN,Cbfα1 mRNA and protein expression (all P＜ 0.01).Similar to uremic serum,calcium phosphate crystals also induced HASMCs calcification,increased calcium loads (P＜0.05),and up-regulated BMP-2,OPN,Cbfα1 mRNA and protein expression (all P ＜ 0.01).However,there was no significant difference between HASMCs growing in uremic supernatant and control medium in calcium loads or the expression levels of these osteogenic proteins (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Calcium phosphate crystals induced by uremic serum promote HASMCs calcification,which might be one of the mechanisms of uremic vascular calcification.

Objective To explore the effect of soluble tyrosine kinase 2 fusion protein (sTie-2-Fc) on peritoneal angiogenesis, solute transport and ultrafi]tration capacity in uremic rats undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). Methods Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham-operation group, uremic group, uremic PD group, and sTie-2-Fc group (all n=8).Uremic PD group and sTie-2-Fc group received intraperitoneal infusion of 3 ml/100 g of peritoneal dialysis fluid (PDF) containing 4.25% glucose twice daily for 4 weeks. Rats in sTie-2-Fc group were infused with PDF supplemented with 1 μg sTie-2-Fc. Before the rats were sacrificed, a peritoneal equilibration test (PET) was performed to evaluate the peritoneal solute transport and ultrafiltration capacity, and omenta was obtained for anti-CD31 immunohistochemical staining to determine the vessel density. Results Compared to their counterparts in sham-operation group,rats in uremic group had higher 2 h-dialysate to plasma creatinine concentration ratio (D/Pcr, 0.78±0.05 vs 0.70±0.09, P=0.028), lower 2 h to initial dialysate glucose concentration ratio (D/D0, 0.69±0.05 vs 0.76±0.07, P=0.033), decreased peritoneal ultrafiltration [UF, (2.29±0.50) ml vs (4.58±1.64) ml, P=0.005], and increased omental vessel density [(5.8±3.0)/HP vs (1.6±0.5)/HP, P＜0.01]. When compared to uremic group, rats in uremic PD group showed higher D/Pcr (0.89±0.05 vs 0.78±0.05, P=0.001), lower D/D0 (0.47±0.09 vs 0.69±0.05, P＜0.01), decreased UF [(0.40±0.59) ml vs (2.29±0.50) mi, P=0.005] and more omental vessels [(16.7±1.2)/HP vs (5.8±3.0)/HP, P＜0.01]. Improved peritoneal UF [(1.56±0.48) ml vs (0.40±0.59) mi, P=0.014] and decreased omental vessels [(9.2± 1.2)/HP vs (16.7 ± 1.2)/HP, P＜0.01] were observed in rats treated with sTie-2-Fc compared with those in uremic PD group, however, the differences of D/Pcr (0.87±0.06 vs 0.89±0.05, P=0.122) and D/D0 (0.60±0.11 vs 0.47±0.09, P=0.06) between these two groups did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion sTie-2-Fc preserves peritoneal ultrafiltration capacity and ameliorates peritoneal angiogenesis caused by uremia and exposure to bioincompatibal PDF.

Objective To observe the long dwell ultrafiltration volume after using 7.5% icodextrin in different peritoneal transport characteristics of peritoneal dialysis patients. Methods Subgroup analysis of a perspective multicenter randomized double blind and parallel control study was performed. Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients were divided into high transport (H) group, high-average transport (HA) group, low-average transport (LA) group and low transport (L) group according to D/Pcr and Twardoski standard. Ultrafiltration volume of night long dwell dialysate was calculated before and after clinic trial for 2 weeks and 4 weeks to evaluate the different effect of transporters on ultrafiltration volume. Results A total of 201 CAPD patients were enrolled in the study, including 98 patients in icodextrin group (ICO group) and 103 patients in glucose group (GLU group). Male and female cases were 96 and 105 respectively. Age was (56.1±13.7) years old (range from 18 to 81). One hundred and ninety-eight patients finished peritoneal equilibrium test (PET), including 24 (12.1%) of H, 72(36.2%)of HA, 81(40.7%)of LA,and 21 (11.0%)of L. After follow-up for four weeks, the ultrafiltration volume was much higher than baseline in H, HA and LA groups. Also ultrafiltration volume in icodextrin group was much higher than that in glucose-based dialysate. Howerve, the increased volume was not significantly difference in L group. Ultrafiltration volume of icodextrin was positively correlated to D/Pcr (R2=0.1681,P＜0.01), while ultratration volume of dextrose was negatively correlated to D/Pcr (R2=0.0949,P＜0.01). Conclusion Compare to glucose-based dialysate (Dineal), 7.5% icodextrin dialysate (Extraneal) improves the ultrafiltration and peritoneal creatinine clearance of long dwell notabily in H, HA and LA group.

Objective To investigate the association between angiopoietin-2 (Angpt-2) and peritoneal angiogenesis in a uremic peritoneal dialysis (PD) rat model. Methods Uremic (subtotal nephrectomy) rats were established and divided into non-PD, 10 d-PD, 28 d-PD and 56 d-PD groups. Standard PD solution was applied in the study. Rats undergone sham operation without PD were used as control group. Vessel density of the peritoneum was detected and quantified with anti-CD31 immunohistochemical staining. Expressive levels of Angpt-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were examined in the peritoneum by real-time PCR and Western blotting. Results The non-PD group was characterized by increased vessel density in the peritoneum compared with that of the control group [(5±3)/HP vs (1±1)/HP]. Progressive angiogenesis was found in 10 d-PD, 28 d-PD and 56 d-PD groups [(10±5)/HP, (17±5)/HP, (19±4)/HP]. Furthermore, expressive levels of Angpt-2 and VEGF increased significantly in the non-PD group compared with the control (P<0.01), and such expressions were significantly higher in the PD groups as compared to non-PD group (P<0.01), but no difference was found among the PD groups. Both VEGF and Angpt-2 levels were positively correlated with vessel density(r=0.7756, P<0.01; r=0.5223, P<0.05). Conclusions Uremia and PD promote peritoneal angiogenesis in rats. Increased expression level of Angpt-2 in peritoneum is positively correlated with peritoneal angiogenesis. Angpt-2 may be a new therapeutic target of peritoneal angiogenesis.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the characteristics of patients on long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD). MethodsPatients who started PD since 1994 and received PD for at least one year were included in this study. According to dialysis duration, patients were divided into two groups. Group A (long-term) was defined as patients survived on PD for more than 5 years. Group B (short-term) was defined as patients who died or switched to bemodialysis within less than 5 years. Demography, biochemical indexes, dialysis prescription and adequacy were compared between two groups. ResultsThere were 68 patients in group A and 98 patients in group B. Mean followed-up period of group A and B was (84.80±19.42) months and (27.25±12.31) months, respectively. Younger, fewer episodes of diabetic comorbidity (group A 3/68 vs group B 18/98, P ＜0.05) and coronary heart disease (group A 6/68 vs group B 22/98, P＜0.05) were found in group A. Compared to group B, the level of serum albumin at the beginning of PD was much higher in group A [(35.56±4.74) g/L vs (33.69±5.45) g/L, P＜0.01). The levels of blood sugar, TC, TG, hemoglobin, calcium, phosphate and iPTH were not significantly different between two groups. Estimated GFR, renal Kt/V and renal Ccr at the beginning of dialysis were much higher in group A, however there was no significant difference in urinary volume between two groups. Both estimated GFR and urinary volume decreased more slowly in group A compared to group B. Peritonitis mobidity was lower in group A (1/81.22 months vs 1/29.03 months, P＜0.01). Conclusions In comparison to short-term survivors, long-term PD patients are characterized by being younger, less diabetic and coronary heart disease, fewer episodes of peritonitis, higher level of serum albumin, higher estimated GFR and less loss of residual renal function.

Objective To investigate and compare relative blood volume (RBV) changes in dialysis-symptomatic hypotension and dialysis-refractory hypertension during hemodialysis. Methods Fifteen patients with dialysis-symptomatic hypotension (SH group) and thirteen patients with dialysis refractory hypertension (RH group) on chronic haemodialysis were enrolled in this study. RBV, blood pressure, heart rate and ultrafiltration volume (UV) were measured before hemodialysis and at 1 hour intervals during hemodialysis. Total of 149 and 146 five-hour hemodialysis sessions were performed separately. RBV was assessed using Automatic Blood Volume Monitor. Results RBV changes were significantly higher in SH group than in RH group (P

Objectives To investigate the practical application of modified peritoneal equilibration test (modified PET) employing 4.25% glucose exchange in peritoneal dialysis patients and to assess the reference values and clinical significance of the test. Methods Modified PETs were performed in 97 patients without peritonitis for at least 4 weeks. Mass transfer area coefficient (MTAC) was calculated according to the Garred model. Creatinine D/P concentration ratio at 4 hr (4 h D/Pcr), sodium D/P concentration ratio at 1 hr (1 h D/PNa+) and net ultrafiltration (nUF) were also assessed. Ultrafiltration 0.05). 4 h D/Pcr and MTACcr of modified PET were significantly correlated with 4h D/Pcr of standard PET (P